This invention relates generally to vehicular drilling towers and supports and more particularly to a device which permits relative lateral tilting of the tower relative to a vehicle.
Previous drilling tower support vehicles pivoted the tower only about the vehicle lateral axis. For this reason, any drilling performed at an angle relative to a high wall or drop off embankment requires that the vehicular longitudinal axis be perpendicular to the high wall. When more holes are being drilled, the vehicle must be backed away from the high wall, turned and then driven parallel to the high wall and then turned towards the high wall, and finally moved to the position of the next hole to be drilled.
Some vehicular drill assemblies incorporate pivoting tower structures to accommodate tilting of the tower laterally relative to the vehicle. The pivoting portion used in these types of pivoting tower structures is inherently weak and inapplicable to vehicular towers which are relatively tall or heavy. Since surface mining towers are usually quite tall, a different type of pivoting structure is required.
Vehicular drill assemblies with pivoted towers also result in the path of the rotating tower conflicting with any other member located on the mainframe. For example, the drill string of the tower may contact the operator's cab which is mounted to the mainframe.
The foregoing illustrates limitations known to exist in present vehicular tower supports. Thus, it is apparent that it would be advantageous to provide an alternative directed to overcoming one or more of the limitations set forth above. Accordingly, a suitable alternative is provided including features more fully disclosed hereinafter.